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Saturday, 5 September 2009

Beetroot, coriander and feta salad

This recipe for Beetroot, coriander and feta came about from my last submission to Weekend Herb Blogging or WHB as it is fondly known, when I submitted my Golden Beetroot and coriander pakoras. Whilst I was making the pakoras, it occurred to me why don't I try making a salad sometime with these two different beetroots: Detroit and Golden. So that is what I decided to do early on today.

After adding the coriander to the cooked and grated beetroot, I felt it needed a contrasting flavour which came in the form of the sharp and salty cheese feta, which I always have in my fridge. So this combination was the final result. We had the Beetroot, coriander and feta salad as an accompaniment to the last two remaining spiced vegetable pastries that I made yesterday. WHB accepts two types of entries. Recipe posts must showcase either a herb or plant ingredient as one of the primary ingredients in the recipe; or posts must be informative that spotlight one herb or plant ingredient, particularly including information about how they are used in cooking. Posts can be a combination of both these criteria too. So as I result of not wanting to repeat myself about the rooty beetroot and how it can be cooked, I will give you some new information about this vegetable, that was not covered by my previous entry.

Beetroot is also known as beet, it is a biennial grown as annual for its swollen root and young leaves. It is a hardy vegetable with a slightly high level of carbohydrates than most vegetables. Beetroot is also a good source of folic acid and potassium.

Amateur growers will be interested to know that beetroot takes about 60 - 90 days to mature, and must always be harvested before it becomes woody and inedible, if this happens it is only good for the compost bin. Beetroot flourishes in the company of Brassicas, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, onions and most beans (not runners).

When some people when they think of beetroot, they immediately think of borscht; or if you are like me and grew up in the U.K you think of pickled beetroot with mash potatoes, ugh, that used to be part of my school dinners long, long time ago. Because of many peoples negative experiences of beetroot, especially those that stem from childhood memories like moi, many cooks and chefs have tried to think up innovative ways to re-introduce the much demised beetroot to people again. In light of this, the beetroot has re-emerged in a number of different guises and in a number of interesting recipes. For example: beetroot sorbet, beetroot risotto and Beetroot ice-cream, though I have to admit I have not yet tried any of these yet. This simple recipe of mine uses cooked beetroot, that I baked in the oven and then gently peeled of the skin.

I am submitting this recipe into this weeks WHB#199. This weeks host is Chris from Mele Cotte. The weekly food blog event showcases information and recipes about herbs, vegetables, fruits and other plant ingredients. WHB was first initiated by Kalyn's Kitchen, it is now organized by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once.

Beetroot, coriander and feta salad

Ingredients

2 gold beetroots, cooked

1 large red beetroot, cooked

2-4 tablespoons of chopped coriander

100g feta cheese

Method

Grate both the gold and red beetroot. Optional: Either keep the two beetroots separate as I have above for visual effect more than anything else; or mix together with the coriander. then crumble over the feta cheese and serve as an accompaniment.

We have used or pickled ours now!Interesting info on beets too,The ones we grew next to the carrots (chioggia) were great, the ones we grew next to parsnips and swiss chard did not do so well, notes for next year!

Ive never had Beet root! But your posts always seem to make me want to try things, I never have had before. You make all your veggies into delicious looking dreams! Thanks for inspiring me to try something differnt. Happy Garden Eating! Jenn

Hey, thanks for your comment :)I tried growing beetroot in a pot last year with no success, they were tiny, jsut didnt grow for some reason :( i figure its easier and cheaper to buy them. Its a great idea to use grated beetroot in a salad!Im also not having much success with the celery im growing at the moment, its gotten to about 8 cm tall and stopped...any suggestions?

Lovely salad, such great ingredients. This one will go on my list. I love beetroot. I love it pickled on a cheese sandwich or heck, straight out of the jar, plain in a salad or roasted in my very favourite chocolate cake. You must try it Mangocheeks, it is amazing and everyone raves about it. Of course it wasn't mine originally, I just acquired it :)

Beetroot chocolate cake features high on my list of recipes to make, so why not make your recipe. I sure will when I get my next batch of beetroots, as the ones I picked yesterday have been marked for another recipe.